This invention relates to an automatic processer for light-sensitive silver halide photographic materials (hereinafter abbreviated as ""light-sensitive materials"), which is capable of performing developing processing of different kinds of light-sensitive materials simultaneously.
At color photographic developing stations, negative light-sensitive materials of negative color films are developed to prepare negative images, which negative images are printed on color papers, thereby forming positive images based on the negative images on the positive light-sensitive materials of the color papers.
According to the developing processing of color photographics of the prior art, three kinds of instruments, namely the automatic processer for the negative light-sensitive material, the automatic processer for the positive light-sensitive material and the automatic printing device, are placed separately. These instruments generally require certain areas for working spaces around the respective instruments, and further spaces required for workings such as supplemental cock adjustment, evaporation correction, tank liquid exchange and supplementing must be ensured.
Accordingly, when the aforesaid instruments are placed separately, it is required that the working spaces around respective instruments should not overlap each other. Such a requirement may result in trouble when workings in a narrow place such as a small scale color developing station. Thus, miniaturization of an automatic processer is now becoming a very important task.
In view of such a background, a processing machine is proposed comprising an integral combination of an automatic processer for color paper and an automatic printing device. However, since a negative light-sensitive material and a positive light-sensitive material are processed with processing liquors separate from each other, the automatic machine for negative light-sensitive material and the automatic machine for positive light-sensitive material are not integrally combined. Heretofore, there have been attempts to develop two different kinds of light-sensitive materials of negative color film and color paper with one processing liquor (solution), and the thought to employ a processing liquor commonly, particularly a developing solution is described in Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 32734/1978, Japanese patent Publication No. 35298/1977 and Japanese Patent Publication No. 2779/1978.
Also, Japanese Provisional Patent Publication No. 95342/1983 discloses processing of different kinds of light-sensitive materials of color film and color paper with a developer of the same composition by circulating the developer mutually between the two automatic processers. However, these negative light-sensitive material for photographing and positive light-sensitive for printing comprise silver halide compositions are originally entirely different from each other. No inherent photographic performance can be obtained at all by processing with a developer of the same composition.
Also, for processing of negative light-sensitive material and positive light-sensitive material separately in different automatic processers, in order to perform processing rapidly without waiting time, it is required to always set the processing liquor at a constant temperature and to flow washing water continuously.
Accordingly, it would be very desirable to have an automatic processer capable of performing developing processing of different kinds of light-sensitive materials simultaneously or separately, requiring no broad installation area, which is compact in size and enables saving of energy cost and washing water.